“They were wiped out.”
“Hm?”
A few days later. Inari was preparing to cook rice to try out some sesame-salt furikake for breakfast when she tilted her head at a call from Yasuno. To be hit with that line right out of the gate—“They were wiped out”—Inari had no clue what she was talking about. Wiped out? Surely the Japan Headquarters of the Awakener Association hadn’t been destroyed, right?
“Throwin’ that at me without context won’t do, lass. Who exactly was wiped out?”
“Wait… You haven’t been watching TV?”
“Even if ye say that. Since I can’t book any dungeons, I was thinkin’ of headin’ to Gunma or somewhere.”
“The inland areas are crazy popular right now! Since they’re nowhere near the ocean!”
“Haah?”
Prompted by that, Inari turned on the TV. Coincidentally, a news bulletin was just starting—and as she looked at the screen, she let out an “Ah.”
There on the screen were the very people she’d seen at the park with Hikaru a few days ago.
Only now, under every one of their photos was the word “Hospitalized.”
—As we can see, all the upper-rank members of the large-scale defense force assembled under the Fishing Federation have reportedly sustained serious injuries and been hospitalized. Mr. Shiritaki, how should we interpret this outcome?—
—Indeed. There’s certainly an underestimation of aquatic monsters to consider, but it may also be that this signals the resolution of the incident. You see...—
In short, a powerful entity had led the Mermen in an attack. The elite force responded and managed to defeat it, but nearly all the leaders were seriously injured and hospitalized.
It seemed the powerful Merman had been commanding the others, and this attack was a coordinated strike. Now that it was defeated, there was speculation that the crisis might settle down.
Wishful thinking, perhaps. Whether that’s true or not would become painfully clear in time. Inari didn’t have the authority to say one way or the other.
More than anything, she didn’t understand why Yasuno was bringing this matter to her.
“To me, it’s just a case of somethin’ happenin’ and gettin’ resolved while I was none the wiser.”
“That may be true. But… don’t you feel anything about this?”
“Feel…? Wait, you don’t mean—”
“Exactly that. The Tokyo’s First Dungeon incident. I think maybe… one of those godlike beings might be involved again.”
“Hmm…”
It was possible, Inari thought. Coincidentally, aquatic monsters started rampaging. Coincidentally, a powerful individual appeared and took out the newly-formed defense unit in a near mutual destruction.
All coincidences.
But what are the odds of that happening? Especially when nothing like it had happened before?
Still… if a “godlike being” was involved, what was the goal?
As she pondered, Inari turned back to the TV.
There was Kobayashi—the “Dragon Blade”—speaking in an interview. He was wrapped in bandages all over, even across half his face. One eye was completely hidden. It had clearly been a brutal battle.
—Yes, this happened because I lacked strength. If I had more power… this wouldn’t have happened…—
“If that’s really the case, more might happen. So please be careful too, Miss Kogami.”
“…Aye. I shall do so. Thank ye for the call.”
After ending the call with Yasuno, Inari sat down in front of the TV.
Kobayashi’s interview continued. He responded solemnly, still wrapped in bandages, his tone full of remorse.
—I thought I understood how dangerous the ocean was… But it was far more terrifying than we imagined. I wish I had understood it better…—
“The ocean, hm…”
Inari only knew the ocean through secondhand knowledge. She imagined that compared to land, it must be much more difficult to fight in. Even so, she thought Kobayashi was emphasizing his powerlessness a bit too much. Maybe it was the trauma of injury, or maybe something else. It stuck out to her—not strongly, but just enough to catch her attention.
Still, perhaps she was overthinking it.
—Next time? If there is a next time… I won’t lose. I’ve learned. So I’ll put that to use when it comes.—
“…Aye, mayhap I am overthinkin’ it.”
It sounded like a proper reflection. A resolve to improve and not repeat past mistakes. If that’s the case, then it wasn’t Inari’s place to worry about it.
She returned to the kitchen and opened the rice container.
“Mmh!” she let out a disgrunt.
The rice was… nearly gone.
This was most unfortunate. She’d become completely accustomed to her usual rice and had no desire to go back to eating low-quality grains.
“This… this means I must return to Akabane once more.”
Which meant… she’d have to skip breakfast.
She had hoped to leisurely enjoy the process of cooking and savoring rice this morning, but knowing there wasn’t enough made it hard to relax.
Well, she could always eat something once she got to Akabane. The croquettes last time had been delicious. She might even stretch her legs and head all the way to Kawaguchi to check out that place Sebastian had mentioned.
“Waste not time, they say. Let us be off at once!”